Adjustable headboard clamping device



1959 w. T. SARK 2,907,054

ADJUSTABLE HEADBOARD CLAMPING DEVICE Filed March 18, 1957 Wa/m/Udm By M ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent ADJUSTABLE HEADBOARD CLAMPING DEVICE Ward T. Sark, Barrington, 11]., assignor to Haggard &

Marcusson Co., a corporation of Illinois Application March 18, 1957, Serial No. 646,786

4 Claims. (Cl. 5-298) This invention relates generally to adjustable devices for bed frames and more particularly to an improved adjustable clamp assembly for facilitating the use of a bed frame with headboards of different sizes.

It is known to provide metal bed frames which are adjustable to accommodate box springs and mattresses of difierent widths, to the end that the bed frame be adapted for use with single beds, double beds, swing beds and the like. In one commonly used type of bed frame, the head end of the side rails are fitted with brackets and with support members which extend upwardly and rearwardly of the bed frame. These brackets and support members are adapted to be secured, as by bolts or the like, to the headboard in a fixed and inflexible manner.

Constructions of this type are not fully satisfactory in that the headboard must have holes drilled therein and, further, in that bolts and nuts are required to attach the headboard to the brackets and support members of the bed frame. This construction has been improved upon by another known type of bed frame in which a headboard friction clamp is provided at the head end of each side rail. Each clamp has an elongated thumb screw providedtherewith which is operatively associated with a headboard bracket. The headboard is held in position adjacent the head end of the bed frame by the clamps when suificient compression is applied to the headboard brackets by the thumb screws. One of the liabilities of this construction is that the elongated thumb screws used to provide the compressive forces necessary to hold the headboard are relatively unstable and have a tendency to wobble. As a result the headboard often is held to the bed frame in a shaky and non-rigid manner.

Further, and of even greater significance, the above described prior art bed frame constructions have not proved entirely satisfactory as they are not fully compatible with the large variety of box springs, mattresses and headboards now in use. For example, it is customary to make the side rails or cross pieces of the bed frame adjustable to accommodate box springs and mattresses of various widths. It will be appreciated that since the headboard support members of the prior art constructions described above are fixed to the side rails, the adjustment of the bed frame width results in a fixed spacing between the headboard support members. Consequently, once the bed frame width is adjusted for a given box spring and mattress, the bed frame can be fitted only with a headboard adapted to this fixed width or spacing. Alternatively, if the cross pieces or end rails of the bed frame are adjustedin accordance with the width of a given headboard,

. the spacing between the side rails may be either too large or too small to accommodate the box spring and mattress to be used with the bed frame.

It is a general object of this invention to provide an improved adjustable friction clamp assembly for securing a headboard to a bed frame.

More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved bed frame construction having 2 means permitting adjustment to difiierent width headboards which is independent of the means for adjusting the width of the bed frame.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved friction clamp assembly for holding a headboard to a bed frame which may be adjusted to accommodate headboards of different widths.

It is "a further object of this invention to provide such an improved adjustable clamp assembly in which tension rather than compression is utilized to .add rigidity to the headboard when it is secured to the bed frame.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide such an improved adjustable headboard clamp assembly which is characterized by its simplicity, its flexibility and its economy of manufacture.

These and other objects are realized in accordance with a specific illustrative embodiment of the invention wherein each side rail of the bed frame is provided with a unique two way adjustable friction clamp assembly. Each friction clamp assembly comprises a headboard bracket secured to the headboard end of the side rail and advantageously extending downwardly therefrom, a side rail bracket secured to the under side of the side rail and a U-shaped headboard clamp member adapted to be adjustably associated with both the headboard and the side rail brackets for enabling headboards of difierent widths to be assembled with the bed frame in a manner completely independent of the bed frame width adjustment:

This novel result is attained in part by means of an elongated slit extending horizontally across one leg of the U-shaped headboard clamp member. A bolt is inserted through the slit and through an opening in the side rail bracket and has threaded thereon a suitable tightening means such as a wing nut. The other leg of the U- shaped headboard clamp member is held spaced longitudinally from the headboard bracket to the end that a headboard support post may be inserted between the headboard bracket and the headboard clamp member and rigidly held therein by the tension applied to the bolt by the wing nut.

In addition, the lateral spacing between the U-shaped headboard clamp member and the headboard bracket may be adjusted for headboards of various widths by means of an elongated slit extending horizontally across the base of the U-shaped headboard clamp and a bolt inserted through the slit and through an opening in the headboard bracket into threaded engagement with a wing nut. By suitable adjustment of this wing nut, the headboard clamp may be moved inwardly or outwardly with respect to its side rail for accommodating dilferent width headboards.

The above and other features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification. For a better understanding of this invention, however, its advantages and specific objects attained with its use, reference is had to the accompanying drawing and descriptive material in which is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bed frame and headboard assembly embodying features of the invention;

sembly which embodies features of the present invention. The bed frame is of a conventional type which comprises a pair of metal side rails 12 and 14 maintained in spaced parallel relation by a pair of end rails or cross pieces 16 and 18. Advantageously the side rails 12 and 14 may be formed of L-shaped bars or angles to the end that the side rails are adapted for receiving and supporting a suitable box spring and mattress thereon.

Bed frame 10 is supported by a plurality of legs 20 which, if desired, may have casters 22 operatively positioned at their ends. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the above described components of the bed frame 10 may be furnished in an unassembled form and may be set up to accommodate the box spring and mattress to be used therewith.

Advantageously, the cross pieces 16 and 18 may be provided with adjustable means such as adjustable clamps 24 to the end that the spacing between side rails 12 and 14 may be adjusted as desired. A number of devices for providing an adjustment of cross pieces 16 and 18 are known in the art but preferably such means may take the form of the adjustable clamp 24.

Bed frame 10 is adapted to be utilized with a headboard 25 which advantageously may have a pair of headboard support posts 28 and 30 depending therefrom. In accordance with this invention, bed frame 10 is adjustable for box springs and mattresses of dilferent widths and separately adjustable for headboards of different widths. This desirable end is attained by a two-way adjustable headboard supporting clamp assembly 32, shown in greater detail in Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the drawing.

In the illustrative embodiment shown with side rail 14, the two way adjustable headboard clamp assembly 32 comprises a headboard bracket 34 which is secured, as by fasteners 35, to the head end of the side rail and which extends downwardly therefrom. A side rail bracket 36 is secured at one leg thereof to the under side of side rail 14 by means of a suitable fastener 38, which may be a rivet, lock bolt or the like. The other leg of side rail bracket 36 extends downwardly from side rail 14 and is provided with an opening 40 adapted to permit the threaded shank 42 of a bolt 41 to be inserted therethrough.

The two way adjustable headboard clamp assembly 32 also comprises a U-shaped headboard clamp member 44 which is formed with a pair of legs 46 and 48 secured at right angles to opposite ends of the base 50 of the clamp member.

In accordance with a feature of this invention, leg 46 of headboard clamp member 44 is provided with an elongated slot 52 extending horizontally of leg 46 and adapted for permitting bolt 41 to be inserted therethrough. Bolt 41 has a head 54 at one end thereof and flats 55 are formed intermediate threaded shank 42 and head 54 for cooperation with slot 52 to prevent rotation of bolt 42 in slot 52. A wing nut 56 is adapted to cooperate with threaded shank 42 such that tightening of wing nut 56 places bolt 41 in tension and draws leg 48 of headboard clamp 44 closer to headboard bracket 34 to reduce the clearance space therebetween.

Headboard bracket 34 also is provided with an opening 58 for permitting the threaded shank 61 of bolt 60 to be inserted therethrough for threaded engagement with a wing nut 62. Bolt 60 also is inserted through an elongated slot 64 extending horizontally across the base 54 of headboard clamp member 44. Bolt 60 is provided with a head 66 and has Hats 63 formed intermediate head 66 and shank 61 for preventing rotation of the bolt in slot 64. It can be seen that wing nut 62 may be tightened upon shank 61 to draw the base 50 of headboard clamp member 44 closer to headboard bracket 34 to reduce the clearance space therebetween.

In the use of the novel two way headboard clamp assembly of the invention, the headboard support post 30 is placed between headboard bracket 34 and leg 48 of the U-shaped clamp member 44. Wing nut 56 first is loosened sufiiciently on bolt 41 to accommodate the width of headboard support post 30. The wing nut then is tightened upon bolt 41 to place the bolt in tension for providing sufiicient clamping force upon headboard support post 30 to maintain the headboard in a rigid fashion at the end of side rail 14. The elongated slot 64 in the base 50 of U-shaped clamp member 44 cooperates with bolt 41 and wing nut 46 to enable headboards of various thicknesses to be assembled with the metal bed frame 10.

Additionally, it will be appreciated that the various headboards 26 which may be utilized with the metal bed frame 10 may vary greatly in width, i.e., in the spacing between the headboard support posts 28 and 30. The invention is adapted to accommodate headboards of different widths by means of the action of bolt and its wing nut 62 and the cooperation of the elongated slot 52 in the leg 46 of the U-shaped clamp member therewith.

.Thus, wing nut 62 may be adjusted to permit the U-shaped clamp member 44 to receive various width headboards therein and the wing nut then is tightened to supply sufficient tension to bolt 60 to hold the headboard 26 in a secure and rigid manner to the bed frame 10.

The two way adjustable action of the invention is illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawing. The U-shaped clamp member 44, shown in full lines, illustrates the use of the clamp assembly with a headboard having support posts 30 of relatively small thickness and with a relatively small spacing therebetween. The U-shaped clamp member 44a, shown in dotted lines, illustrates the position of the clamp assembly when used with a headboard having support posts of relatively greater thickness and with relatively greater spacing therebetween. It will be appreciated that the two way adjustment of the U-shaped clamp assembly as described above may be effected completely independent of the width adjustment of the bed frame 10 as attained by means of the cross piece adjusting clamps 24. It further will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the tension upon bolts 41 and 60 resulting from the tightening of their respective Wing nuts 56 and 62 serves to hold the [headboard much more securely than was possible with the prior art type of clamp wherein the clamping bolts were placed in compression rather than tension. Still further, it will be appreciated that the rigidity with which the headboard is held to the bed frame is further enhanced by the side clamping action provided by the base 50 of the U-shaped clamp member 44. Thus, each support post of the headboard is held by a force applied between U-shaped clamp member leg 48 and one side of the bracket 34 and U-shaped clamp base 50 and the other side of bracket 34.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for the purpose of teaching the principles of the invention it will be understood by those skilled in the art that this embodiment is illustrative only and is not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Two way adjustable headboard clamping means for securing a headboard to a bed frame, said means comprising a pair of brackets adapted to be mounted in longitudinally spaced relation on a side rail of the bed frame, a clamping member cooperatively associated-with said pair of brackets, a first adjustable means for selectively varying the longitudinal spacing between the clamping member and one bracket to accommodate headboards of different thicknesses and a second adjustable means for selectively varying the lateral spacing between the clamping member and the other bracket perpendicular to said longitudinal spacing to accommodate headboards of different widths. V

2. In a bed frame of the type having a pair of side rails and adjustable cross rails for enabling the spacing between the side rails to be adjusted as desired, the improvement of a two way adjustable headboard clamp assembly comprising a headboard bracket adapted to be secured to the head end of a side rail and having an opening for receiving a first bolt therethrough, a side rail bracket adapted to be secured to the side rail a spaced distance from said headboard bracket and having an opening for receiving a second bolt therethrough, a U-shaped clamp adapted to be adjustable associated with said headboard bracket and said side rail bracket, said U-shaped clamp having an elongated slot in one leg for receiving said first bolt and an elongated slot in its base for receiving said second bolt, first nut means for placing said first bolt in tension by adjusting the spacing between a leg of said U-shaped clamp and said headboard bracket to accommodate headboards of various thicknesses therebetween and second nut means for placing said second bolt in tension by adjusting the spacing between the base of said U-shaped clamp and said headboard bracket to accommodate headboards of different widths therebetween.

3. A two way adjustable headboard clamp assembly for mounting headboards of dilferent widths to a bed frame comprising a headboard bracket adapted to be secured to the head end of the bed frame and having an opening for receiving a first bolt therethroug'h, a side rail bracket adapted to be secured to the bed frame a spaced distance from said headboard bracket and having an opening for receiving a second bolt therethrough, a U- shaped clamp adapted to be adjustably associated with said headboard bracket and said side rail bracket, said U-shaped clamp having an elongated slot in one leg for receiving said first bolt and an elongated slot in its base for receiving said second bolt, first nut means for adjusting the spacing between a leg of said U-shaped clamp and said headboard bracket and second nut means for adjusting the spacing between the base of said clamp and said headboard bracket independent of the first adjustment.

4. A two way adjustable clamp assembly comprising a first bracket having an opening for receiving a first bolt therethrough, a second bracket having an opening for receiving a second bolt theretbirough, a U-shaped clamp adapted to be adjustably associated with said first and second brackets, said U-shaped clamp having an elongated slot in one leg for receiving said first bolt and an elongated slot in its base for receiving its second bolt, first nut means for adjusting the spacing between a leg of said U-shaped clamp and said first bracket and second nut means for adjusting the spacing between the base of said U-shaped clamp and said first bracket wherein the first adjustment is independent of the second adjustment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 339,072 Nies Mar. 30, 1886 914,047 Holcomb Mar. 2, 1909 2,311,111 Kelly Feb. 16, 1943 2,734,203 Rosen Feb. 14, 1956 Jackson May 15, 1956 

